and many more benefits!

Find us on Facebook

GMAT Club Timer Informer

Hi GMATClubber!

Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:

As U.S. nuclear attack submarines prowl their familiar haunts deep within the oceans of the world these days, they increasingly are engaged in missions far different from the tasks for which they were built and for which their crews were trained over the last forty years.(A) they increasingly are engaged in missions far different from the tasks for which they were built(B) the missions they increasingly engage in are far different than the tasks they were built for(C) they engage increasingly in missions that differ significantly from the tasks they were built for(D) the missions they engage in are increasingly different than the tasks for which they were built(E) they increasingly engage in missions far different than the tasks for which they were built

As U.S. nuclear attack submarines prowl their familiar haunts deep within the oceans of the world these days, they increasingly are engaged in missions far different from the tasks for which they were built and for which their crews were trained over the last forty years.

Although the meaning of this sentence can be easily understood, it is important to heed the placement of increasingly. “They increasingly are engaged in…” suggests that the frequency in engaging in missions far different from the original tasks of these submarines has gone up. So we need to keep this meaning intact in the original choice.

• This sentence does not have any SV agreement error.• All the verbs are used in correct tense.• Pronoun “they” correctly refers to “US nuclear attack submarines”.• Adverb “increasingly” correctly modifies the verb “engage”.• The parallelism is also maintained in the sentence – “for which they were built” and “for which their crews were trained over the last forty years.• The sentence uses the correct idiom “different from”. So this sentence is correct as is.

Let us now eliminate the wrong answer choices on solid grounds through the POE.

Choice A: they increasingly are engaged in missions far different from the tasks for which they were built. Correct for reasons stated above.

Choice B: the missions they increasingly engage in are far different than the tasks they were built for:Incorrect because: • Firstly, there is a very slight meaning chance when we change the passive “they increasingly are engaged” to active “they increasingly engage”. When written in active, the sentence suggests that the doer is consciously engaging in some activity. However, when written in passive, the sentence does not suggest this conscious effort. It rather suggests that the doer is asked to do that activity. • Secondly, use of “different than” is not correct in this context. In GMAT, “different from” is preferred over “different than”. Also “different than” should be followed a clause and not only a noun.

Choice C: they engage increasingly in missions that differ significantly from the tasks they were built for: Incorrect because:• With the change in place of “increasingly”, it somehow now denotes not the frequency but the degree of engagement of these submarines into missions different from their original tasks.• This choice has parallelism issue. “they were built for” is not parallel to “for which their crews were trained…”.

Choice D: the missions they engage in are increasingly different than the tasks for which they were built: Incorrect because:• Same active voice implication as in choices B and C.• “increasingly” now modifies different, meaning that missions are now increasingly different rather than the submarines increasingly engaging in these missions.

Choice E: they increasingly engage in missions far different than the tasks for which they were built: Incorrect because of implication of active voice and the idiom “different than”.

Hope this helps.Thanks Shraddha _________________

Aiming to score 760+ on the GMAT? Attend our free webinars to learn how to:

[*] Master Number Properties[*] Ace Critical Reasoning

The webinars will start at 7 AM PST on the 11th and 12th of July, 2015.

In C, "they engage increasingly in missions". In this sentence, does "increasingly" is modifying engage or missions?

As per the explanation of egmat, increasingly should modify engage. Can't we compare it with the case of "only", where it modifies the clause/noun following it?

Where am I getting wrong?

Hi Rohit, the easiest way to quickly solve this sentence, is on the basis of the following concepts:

i) Whenever there is a structure such as and that.., and which, and who.., and for which.., there must be a corresponding parallel structure on the LHS of and. Notice there that for which is in the non-underlined portion, making the task further easy. So, there has to be a for which in the underlined portion.

ii) Clauses should not end in a preposition. For example, they increasingly engage in is incorrect, since this clause ends in a preposition for.

Idiom is "different from", so remain only A & C. In A "are engaged" sounds as a passive voice, but in the first part we don't have passive voice. On the other hand, in C, the second "they" is tricky. I go with A, but i'm curious what is the OA.

I think this question is testing idioms "different from" so clearly A and C remain. the other issue is placement of increasingly. I will prefer engage increasingly to the passive increasingly are engaged. I think increasingly modifies engaged here.

The other issue is of parallelism which requires for which hence A is the best choice.

(A) they increasingly are engaged in missions far different from the tasks for which they were built- HOLD(B) the missions they increasingly engage in are far different than the tasks they were built for- Not parallel (C) they engage increasingly in missions that differ significantly from the tasks they were built for-Not Parallel(D) the missions they engage in are increasingly different than the tasks for which they were built- Passive (E) they increasingly engage in missions far different than the tasks for which they were built-Different than

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

(A) they increasingly are engaged in missions far different from the tasks for which they were builtCorrect(B) the missions they increasingly engage in are far different than the tasks they were built forWrong. Parallelism from the non underlined portion requires for which construct(C) they engage increasingly in missions that differ significantly from the tasks they were built forWrong. Parallelism from the non underlined portion requires for which construct(D) the missions they engage in are increasingly different than the tasks for which they were builtDifferent from is correct. Than is wrong as no comparative word is used.(E) they increasingly engage in missions far different than the tasks for which they were builtDifferent from is correct. Than is wrong as no comparative word is used._________________

In C, "they engage increasingly in missions". In this sentence, does "increasingly" is modifying engage or missions?

As per the explanation of egmat, increasingly should modify engage. Can't we compare it with the case of "only", where it modifies the clause/noun following it?

Where am I getting wrong?

Hi Rohit, the easiest way to quickly solve this sentence, is on the basis of the following concepts:

i) Whenever there is a structure such as and that.., and which, and who.., and for which.., there must be a corresponding parallel structure on the LHS of and. Notice there that for which is in the non-underlined portion, making the task further easy. So, there has to be a for which in the underlined portion.

ii) Clauses should not end in a preposition. For example, they increasingly engage in is incorrect, since this clause ends in a preposition for.

Well, on point #2, our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana has a section discussing in further detail, and providing examples from official sources. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section. _________________

I got your explanation and able to solve this question. I am just wondering what is the difference between "they increasingly are engaged in missions" and "they engage increasingly in missions". Can you please explain it in detail. How does increasingly modify any sentence?

EducationAisle wrote:

rohitmanglik wrote:

Hi Ashish,

Thanks for the reply. Point 2 was very helpful.

Well, on point #2, our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana has a section discussing in further detail, and providing examples from official sources. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.

I got your explanation and able to solve this question. I am just wondering what is the difference between "they increasingly are engaged in missions" and "they engage increasingly in missions". Can you please explain it in detail. How does increasingly modify subject?

EducationAisle wrote:

rohitmanglik wrote:

Hi Ashish,

Thanks for the reply. Point 2 was very helpful.

Well, on point #2, our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana has a section discussing in further detail, and providing examples from official sources. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.

I got your explanation and able to solve this question. I am just wondering what is the difference between "they increasingly are engaged in missions" and "they engage increasingly in missions". Can you please explain it in detail. How does increasingly modify subject?

increasingly is an adverb (how do we know? Well, because of the good old ly) and so, will modify verbs/adjectives/adverbs.

In the answer choices here, the only option where the use of increasingly is clearly incorrect is option D, which uses increasingly different. Here, increasingly is modifying different, which is an obvious deviation from the original meaning, where increasingly is intended to modify engagement.

Any difference between increasingly engage and engage increasingly is too subtle (if at all there is any) to make it as the basis to eliminate answer choices.

As I mentioned above, there are much more evident reasons why each of the incorrect answer choices can be eliminated.

p.s. I have mailed you the corresponding section from EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana . Do let us know if it was helpful. _________________

Thanks for the pdf and solving query. Underlying concept is clear now.

Thanks again.

EducationAisle wrote:

rohitmanglik wrote:

Hi Ashish,

I got your explanation and able to solve this question. I am just wondering what is the difference between "they increasingly are engaged in missions" and "they engage increasingly in missions". Can you please explain it in detail. How does increasingly modify subject?

increasingly is an adverb (how do we know? Well, because of the good old ly) and so, will modify verbs/adjectives/adverbs.

In the answer choices here, the only option where the use of increasingly is clearly incorrect is option D, which uses increasingly different. Here, increasingly is modifying different, which is an obvious deviation from the original meaning, where increasingly is intended to modify engagement.

Any difference between increasingly engage and engage increasingly is too subtle (if at all there is any) to make it as the basis to eliminate answer choices.

As I mentioned above, there are much more evident reasons why each of the incorrect answer choices can be eliminated.

p.s. I have mailed you the corresponding section from EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana . Do let us know if it was helpful.

We have "find out about" and "submit to" as clauses and they are ending in prepositions.

I don't know but I am getting wrong somewhere.

EducationAisle wrote:

rohitmanglik wrote:

In C, "they engage increasingly in missions". In this sentence, does "increasingly" is modifying engage or missions?

As per the explanation of egmat, increasingly should modify engage. Can't we compare it with the case of "only", where it modifies the clause/noun following it?

Where am I getting wrong?

Hi Rohit, the easiest way to quickly solve this sentence, is on the basis of the following concepts:

i) Whenever there is a structure such as and that.., and which, and who.., and for which.., there must be a corresponding parallel structure on the LHS of and. Notice there that for which is in the non-underlined portion, making the task further easy. So, there has to be a for which in the underlined portion.

ii) Clauses should not end in a preposition. For example, they increasingly engage in is incorrect, since this clause ends in a preposition for.